BREAKING PRIDE FM NEWS

Emmerdale and Heartstopper actor Bradley Riches has been flooded with support after sharing that he attempted to take his own life in 2020. The actor, who plays Lewis Barton in the soap, posted an emotional message on Instagram to mark National Suicide Prevention Month, writing that he always gets nervous talking about his experience but wanted to share it. He described a time when he couldn't see a life beyond that moment, and didn't know who he was or whether things could ever feel different. He went on to list the experiences he has had since — including entering the Celebrity Big Brother house and writing a best-selling book — and urged anyone who might be struggling to stay for the things they haven't experienced yet, adding: "You are loved. You are important. Your story is not finished." Riches received an outpouring of support from fans and fellow cast members in response to the post.

If anyone listening is affected by any of the themes in that story, the Samaritans are available around the clock on 116 123.

Ally Van Tillo, the founder of the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt, has died at home — peacefully on the thirtieth of August, with his husband Ian and his sister Vivienne by his side. Formerly known as Alastair Hume, Ally brought the concept of the AIDS memorial quilt to Britain after returning from San Francisco to Edinburgh in the late 1980s, inspired by the NAMES Project Quilt that had begun there in 1985. Today the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt commemorates more than six hundred people who died from HIV and AIDS across three hundred and thirty-five individual panels. It has been displayed at venues across the country, most recently at Tate Modern in London. In a fitting tribute to the quilt's next chapter, it is due to be displayed in full for the first time in Scotland at Glasgow's Tramway from the twelfth of September to the fourth of October. Ian Van Tillo announced his husband's death in an emotional social media tribute, writing simply: "Goodbye my love."

The Pet Shop Boys have announced a new album exploring the life of Alan Turing. Titled A Man From The Future, the eight-track record was created in collaboration with Turing's biographer Andrew Hodges and features spoken-word narration by Juliet Stevenson alongside orchestration by Sven Helbig. The album traces Turing's life from his school days through his codebreaking work at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, his pioneering contributions to computing and artificial intelligence, his prosecution for homosexuality and his death in 1954. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe described it as a musical memorial to a man who gave so much to his country and the world and was rewarded by being prosecuted for his sexuality. The work was originally performed at the Proms in 2014 and has been reworked with a stronger electronic sound and new string arrangements.

A number of performers who weren’t paid after last year’s Manchester Pride went bust will get some of their fees reimbursed. The Equity union says £15,000 has been secured from a social action pot funded by local businesses through the city council.
More than 50 artists were left a total of £70,000 short when Pride went under with debts of £1.3million.
This year’s Pride went ahead last month after a new not-for-profit company was set up, kick-started with funding from venues in the Gay Village, with many taking to social media to praise the community atmosphere of the event. All performers this year were paid on time.
Meanwhile a charity commission investigation into the former Manchester Pride organisation is continuing.

A forecast of day-long heavy rain caused the organisers of Newquay Pride in Cornwall to cancel the event.
It was scheduled for Saturday the 29th of August, but organisers said the safety of the community, traders and performers was their top priority.
It’s hoped the event can be rearranged for later this year.

Welsh actor Luke Evans has paid a moving tribute to Tim Curry, who died yesterday aged 80, sharing a letter he wrote to the Rocky Horror icon near the end of his Broadway run as Dr Frank-N-Furter. Evans, who is openly gay and made his Broadway debut in the role earlier this year, posted the handwritten letter on Instagram alongside the words "there will only be one Tim Curry." In it, Evans wrote that every actor who puts on Frank inevitably walks into a conversation that started with Curry, and that he had felt that every single night. He was careful to stress he had never tried to recreate what Curry did — describing that as impossible — but said he had hoped to honour the extraordinary character Curry brought to life while finding his own way through him. He closed the letter by saying he hoped Curry would have approved of one more Frank having the time of his life in those heels. Tim Curry was best known for playing Dr Frank-N-Furter in the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a role that made him a beloved icon for generations of LGBTQ+ fans.

A Welsh rugby player is sharing his positive coming-out story in the hope of encouraging others in sport to live their truth. Kyle Tayler-Woolston, a back row forward for Newport RFC, came out to his teammates in 2018 — and this summer married his husband, George Woolston. He told BBC Sport that his biggest fear had been that he would be judged on his sexuality rather than his rugby skill, describing the experience of staying closeted as mentally draining. When he finally came out to his head coach Ty Morris, the response was disarming — Morris's first reaction was relief that Kyle wasn't signing for another club. Tayler-Woolston said he has never faced homophobia in rugby, and acknowledges he may have been lucky — but says the sport has progressed massively and he hopes his story gives others the confidence to be themselves. He said simply: "Love is love."

Wes Streeting has said he has experienced more online homophobia in the last three weeks than in his entire life following his appointment as the UK's first openly gay defence secretary. Speaking on Iain Dale's All Talk podcast, Streeting said the volume of abuse had been unbelievable, with people unable to cope with the idea that a gay person might lead the UK armed forces. He noted that his appointment had been almost entirely unremarked upon in the mainstream media — something he welcomed — but said the reaction online had been very different. Streeting said he was proud to have lived through a period in which gay people went from being banned from serving in the military to having an openly gay defence secretary. Until 2000, an estimated two hundred or more personnel were discharged from the forces each year because of their sexuality. One MoD employee told Streeting in his first week that it meant a lot to those who remembered the bad old days. He added that he saw great strength in the LGBTQ+ community, and said that being gay in Britain is ordinary now — which is brilliant.

More than £2,500 has been raised to pay for a mural in Manchester’s Gay Village in memory of popular drag queen Madame Aries.
The performer,affectionately known as ‘Nana’, died eight years ago and was one of the oldest drag acts in the north.
Nana will take her place alongside other drag acts commemorated in the Gay Village, including Foo Foo Lamarr and Lily Savage.

It’s been announced that the Bingham Cup, the international gay rugby union tournament, will be held in Leeds in 2028. The event, which is expected to attract thousands of supporters to the city from across the globe, will be hosted by inclusive rugby club Leeds Hunters. The Bingham Cup is named after gay rugby player Mark Bingham, one of the people who tried to overcome the hijackers of a United Airlines flight during the September the 11th atrocities in 2001. It subsequently crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, killing all 40 people on board. The tournament’s been held every two years since 2002 and the current champions are London team Kings Cross Steelers.

A new analysis of US Census Bureau data suggests that LGBTQ+ people now make up twelve percent of the adult population in the United States — an all-time high of an estimated twenty-six and a half million people. The analysis, carried out by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, drew on more than two and a half million survey responses collected between 2021 and 2024. It found that LGBTQ+ adults make up more than ten percent of the population in forty states, including in traditionally conservative states such as Georgia, Arizona and Texas. More than half of those counted are aged between eighteen and thirty-four, and bisexual people make up the largest single group within the LGBTQ+ population, accounting for over seven percent of all US adults. HRC president Kelley Robinson said LGBTQ+ Americans are everywhere, adding that with twenty-five million people across the country, the community is no longer a niche constituency and no campaign, brand or employer can afford to treat them as one. The data used in the analysis was collected before the Trump administration removed sexuality and gender identity questions from hundreds of federal surveys.

A sequel to the cult classic The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert could be with us as early as 2028, according to star Guy Pearce. Speaking on the red carpet at a Good Morning America appearance, Pearce said filming is likely to take place in 2027 with a 2028 release. The original 1994 film, written and directed by Stephan Elliott, starred Pearce alongside Hugo Weaving and the late Terence Stamp as two drag queens and a transgender woman travelling across the Australian outback. All three had been attached to reprise their roles in the sequel — and in a touching development, director Elliott revealed that Stamp had already completed his scenes before his death last year at the age of 87. Elliott said he had made the decision to pre-shoot all of Stamp's scenes across several sessions, adding that the veteran actor gave it everything he had and really did have the time of his life. Elliott described calling a wrap on Terence Stamp as words that would haunt him to the day he dies.

The UK government has rejected calls for a public inquiry into the lasting impact of Section 28, the Thatcher-era law that banned the promotion of homosexuality in schools. The Section 28 Justice Coalition — which had gathered more than twenty-six thousand signatures, including support from Russell Tovey, Boy George and Hannah Drakeford — received the government's response this week, sixty-seven days after the petition crossed the ten-thousand-signature threshold that triggers a mandatory reply. The government said it acknowledged the devastating and lasting impact of the legislation but argued that a public inquiry would not establish any new facts, given that the law's origins and motivations are already on the public record. The Section 28 Justice Coalition said the response was disappointing, arguing that an inquiry would be able to recommend safeguards to prevent LGBTQ+ censorship from happening again — whether through law or through social pressure. The coalition said it remained open to other routes and hoped the government would meet with them to discuss next steps.

A Metropolitan Police constable is campaigning for mandatory HIV-awareness training for officers across the country. Casey Pownall, who joined the Met in 2023, has already educated a hundred and twenty police officers and staff after noticing colleagues becoming anxious when dealing with suspects living with HIV — often due to misconceptions about how the virus is transmitted. Pownall, who is openly LGBTQ+ but does not himself have HIV, developed a training presentation with the HIV Peer Support Network, Positive Plus, which has since been reviewed by the Met's Chief Medical Officer and the National AIDS Trust. He is now co-chair of Positive Plus and is working with the Police Federation to push the College of Policing to make formal HIV training standard for all officers in the UK. He said having these conversations is vital, adding that there are police officers from different forces living with HIV who feel they have nobody to speak to — and that the expansion of the peer support network nationally is absolutely incredible.

Visitors to Manchester’s Gay Village can now discover the area’s queer history through a new heritage trail. A series of place markers show how the Village emerged from a previously run-down canal area and largely-derelict Victorian buildings to become the bustling district it is today. The trail was created by volunteers from the north-west branch of the Royal Town Planning Institute, with support from the LGBT Foundation, Manchester Village Pride, Manchester Metropolitan University and the city council. At the moment, the markers are temporary and will stay there until early September while a consultation phase is underway.

The NHS is to prescribe a new drug to treat patients living with a drug-resistant strain of HIV, in what health officials are calling a landmark move. The medication, Lenacapavir, will initially be offered to around ninety-two eligible patients in the coming weeks, with that number expected to rise to around three hundred over the next three years. While the vast majority of the hundred thousand people living with HIV in England can manage the virus with existing medication, a small number have developed resistance — leaving them vulnerable to serious illness. Lenacapavir is taken as tablets for the first eight days, followed by an injection every six months. One woman who has been taking it said it had saved her life, describing how she had regularly been hospitalised before the drug restored her immune system and allowed her to return to full-time work. Health Minister Baroness Merron said the treatment would totally transform lives, and reaffirmed the government's commitment to ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030.

Thirty celebrities have joined forces for a new campaign supporting LGBTQ+ young people in the UK. The #DeserveBetter campaign, launched by Manchester-based charity The Proud Trust, is fronted by Dannii Minogue, Sir Stephen Fry and Dame Kelly Holmes, and calls for greater understanding, safer spaces and better support. Research cited by the charity paints a stark picture — forty-three percent of LGBTQ+ pupils experience bullying because of who they are, fifty-eight percent have seriously considered suicide, and almost a quarter may never complete secondary school, twice the national average. Referrals to The Proud Trust's services rose by a hundred and seventy-one percent following last year's Supreme Court ruling on the definition of sex. The campaign film brings all thirty celebrities together around a single message — that every LGBTQ+ young person deserves to feel safe, accepted, heard and able to thrive. Other names involved include Tom Allen, Heartstopper star Kizzy Edgell, Danny Beard, Nathaniel J Hall from It's a Sin, former Lioness Anita Asante and a host of sports stars, soap actors and drag performers.

New research from Birmingham City University has found that comedy can be a powerful tool for improving mental wellbeing among LGBTQ+ people. The study, published in the psychology journal Behavioural Sciences, evaluated a programme called LGBTQTeeHee! — run at Birmingham Rep — which gives members of the community the chance to develop their own stand-up routines over a ten-week course, culminating in a live showcase. Researchers found that comedy gave participants far more than performance skills, providing a way to process difficult experiences, reframe adversity and build a sense of community and belonging. One participant said: "I've spent most of my life feeling like I'm broken. But when I'm with these guys, I don't feel broken. I feel normal." The programme returns again this autumn.

A heartwarming moment from the Edinburgh Fringe — a young woman came out to her mother in the middle of a comedy show. It happened during a performance of Heated Rivalry: The Musical Parody at the Gilded Balloon, when performers asked every straight woman in the audience to stand up. One woman rose and gestured to her daughter to do the same — but the daughter simply shook her head. Performer Andrew Young said he started crying on the walk home, describing it as overwhelming to have someone feel safe enough to be true to themselves in front of a parent because of a moment in their show. To mark the occasion, the daughter got a banana tattoo — a nod to a joke in the show — to commemorate her very public coming out.

Two of Brighton's best-known gay bars are set to close their doors in September, dealing a double blow to the city's LGBTQ+ scene just days before this weekend's Brighton Pride. R-Bar, a popular seafront venue that has been part of the community for more than twenty-one years, announced it is closing due to dramatically rising costs that have made it financially unsustainable. The announcement came just days after the historic Charles Street Tap, which has been a fixture of Brighton's gay quarter for twenty-five years, revealed it too would be shutting when its lease ends in mid-September. R-Bar officials said they were absolutely devastated to be losing another queer venue at a time when safe spaces are more important than ever, and called on both the government and Brighton and Hove City Council to provide meaningful financial support to protect LGBTQ+ nightlife.

Birmingham Pride has faced a backlash after releasing paid tickets for its 2027 thirtieth anniversary celebrations, despite the event's director previously expressing a desire to make it free. In April, Lawrence Barton had told local media he would love to bring the festival full circle for the milestone year by dropping ticket prices. However, tickets have now gone on sale at twenty-nine pounds fifty-one for a single day or fifty pounds seventy-nine for the full weekend, with VIP packages available at roughly twice those prices. Birmingham Pride responded to criticism by saying they had carefully considered what was needed to deliver a safe, accessible and sustainable event, and pointed to a free community event on the Friday, a low-income ticket scheme offering eligible people half-price tickets, and affordable loyalty tickets as ways of keeping the festival accessible.

Slovakia has refused to register the marriage of two Slovak men who wed in Austria in 2020, defying a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union that member states must recognise same-sex marriages performed in other EU countries. Ivan Novotný and Metod Špaček applied to have their marriage registered in Slovakia last December and received a rejection letter this week — not from the registry office, but directly from the country's Interior Minister. Novotný claims Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico personally visited the registry office in June to order officials to refuse the application, citing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage rights that Slovakia passed last year. The couple plan to sue. The European Commission condemned the decision, warning that EU law takes precedence over national law and that it would not hesitate to use all instruments at its disposal if necessary.

A major new scientific study is challenging one of the central arguments used to justify bans on transgender women in sport. Researchers in Brazil pooled the results of fifty-two studies involving thousands of participants, comparing the physical characteristics and fitness of transgender women and cisgender women following hormone therapy. While the study found that transgender women generally had greater lean muscle mass, that difference did not translate into any meaningful advantage in physical performance. Across the studies examined, there were no significant differences in upper-body strength, lower-body strength or aerobic fitness between the two groups after hormone therapy. Co-author Bruno Gualano of the University of São Paulo said the findings challenge the logic behind blanket bans on transgender women in sport, adding that many such policies are based on assumptions the data simply does not support. The researchers themselves noted that the available evidence varies in quality and that the findings do not mean every transgender athlete has identical physical characteristics.

Sam Smith has spoken candidly about their new album Hazel Eyes — a queer love story inspired by their fiancé, fashion designer Christian Cowan — saying it was lonely being a young queer artist and that they are in a very different place now. The non-binary singer is currently on a smaller, more intimate residency tour called To Be Free, playing just six cities rather than the large arenas of previous tours. Smith said they craved being able to look at people again, and that the album reflects a new sense of health, happiness and romantic security. They also acknowledged that their fanbase has shifted considerably since their 2014 debut In the Lonely Hour, noting that some wonderful people have stayed but that it is a completely different room. Smith has spoken previously about the challenges of navigating fame as an openly queer artist, describing the experience as accompanied by harsh controversies. Hazel Eyes — named after Cowan's eye colour — is out now.

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten has announced a new annual fund of seven and a half million euros to improve the safety of the LGBTQ+ community in the Netherlands. The investment, pledged for three years, was unveiled at the opening of the WorldPride Human Rights Conference in Amsterdam — a three-day event focused on equal rights. Jetten, who is himself an out gay man and the first sitting Dutch prime minister to take part in the Amsterdam Canal Parade, said the Netherlands must continue on the path taken all those decades ago. The announcement comes in the wake of the fatal attack at Berlin Pride last month, which has prompted governments across Europe to reassess the security of public LGBTQ+ events.

Liverpool is to honour the late drag icon The Vivienne with a permanent life-size statue at the heart of the city's Pride Quarter. The statue will stand at the junction of Victoria Street and Stanley Street — the entrance to Liverpool's officially recognised LGBTQ+ district — and is intended to serve as a permanent guardian angel for the community in which James Lee Williams first found acceptance and the freedom to become The Vivienne. The project is being led by House of The Vivienne CIC, established by James's family following his death in January 2025, alongside Liverpool-based LGBTQ+ platform Proudly Said, and a community fundraising campaign has been launched with a target of one hundred thousand pounds. John Hyland of Proudly Said said The Vivienne was the Pride Quarter, and that James had a way of making everyone who walked through those doors feel they belonged. James moved to Liverpool from North Wales at the age of sixteen, going on to win the inaugural series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK in 2019 before reaching the final of Dancing on Ice — the first drag performer ever to do so. Those behind the statue say they hope it will become a catalyst for wider investment in the Pride Quarter, and a reminder to anyone who might be struggling that they do not have to do it alone.

Six London borough councils have pledged to maintain trans-inclusive services despite new guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission on single-sex spaces coming into force yesterday. The leaders of Lambeth, Hackney, Haringey, Lewisham, Southwark and Waltham Forest — all Labour, Green or Liberal Democrat-led — issued a joint letter saying they would not require staff to police access to public spaces such as toilets and changing rooms, arguing the guidance would make transgender and non-binary residents feel under attack. The EHRC guidance, which came into force on the fifth of August in England, Scotland and Wales, means access to single-sex spaces should now be determined by a person's sex as assigned at birth. However, the situation is already heading for the courts — Hackney Council has been served a formal legal challenge for failing to provide services exclusively for cisgender women. EHRC chair Mary-Ann Stephenson has warned that public bodies remain legally obliged to follow the law.

Leeds Pride has announced it will return on the seventeenth and eighteenth of July 2027, cementing its status as a permanent fixture in the city's events calendar. The news follows what organisers have described as the biggest and most successful event in the festival's twenty-year history, with more than ninety thousand people attending this year's celebrations across the full weekend. The event was headlined by La Voix, Sweet Female Attitude and Baga Chipz, with presenters including Emmerdale's Bradley Riches keeping crowds entertained across multiple stages. One of the highlights was the launch of The Freedom Party — Leeds Pride's first-ever ticketed Saturday night event — which attracted thousands of attendees and generated vital income for the festival's future. Organisers say the expanded footprint, enhanced VIP experience and wider range of food, drink and community activities helped make it the largest Pride celebration the city has ever seen.

A new lesbian pub is coming to south London — and it needs the community's help to open its doors. Dorothy's, in Camberwell, is the brainchild of couple Beth and Molly, who are investing their life savings into creating what they describe as a proper boozer — complete with a beer garden, pub quizzes, Sunday roasts and football on the screens — built by and for the sapphic community. The pub's name is a nod to the legendary Gateways Club, where Dorothy was once the password for entry. The building hasn't operated as a pub for around five years and requires extensive renovation, including a kitchen that needs to be rebuilt entirely from scratch. A crowdfunding campaign has already attracted more than two hundred and fifty backers, with supporters buying drinks in advance and offering skills from bookkeeping to decorating. Beth and Molly say the response has blown their minds, and that Dorothy's is their answer to the serious lack of permanent sapphic spaces in London.

A political candidate in Russia has been sentenced to ten days in prison after posting a video of himself wearing a T-shirt with a rainbow on it. Daniil Neonov, who is running for municipal deputy in Moscow, was arrested following the video — posted on his Telegram channel on the sixteenth of July — in which he wore a black T-shirt with the word LOVE written in seven rainbow colours, along with a headband with ears and a cat mask. He was held for seven hours without access to a lawyer and told reporters he was choked and beaten at the police station. The Moscow court ruled he had violated Russia's law against displaying symbols associated with extremism — a label Russia applied to the entire LGBTQ+ movement in 2023. Neonov argued in his defence that the rainbow on his shirt had seven colours, while the Pride flag only has six. He was given the maximum possible sentence and is also banned from standing for public office. It is the latest in a string of crackdowns in Russia this year, which have included raids on an LGBTQ+ book publisher, fines for posting photos of drag queens and charges against streamers for distributing the gay hockey drama Heated Rivalry.

One of the most eye-catching moments at Amsterdam's recent WorldPride Canal Parade was a giant inflatable installation depicting Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin locked in a kiss. The piece, titled The Kissing Couple, showed enormous figures of the two world leaders dressed in traditional Dutch Delft blue-and-white costumes and holding tulips — a playful nod to the ceramic souvenir figurines found in shops across the Netherlands. Organisers said they did not want to provoke but to pause power for a moment and highlight something human. Around eighty decorated boats filled Amsterdam's famous canals for the parade, watched by hundreds of thousands of spectators. The event was attended by Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten — an out gay man and the first sitting Dutch prime minister to take part in the Canal Parade — who said this year's celebration carried greater significance than ever, coming just days after the fatal attack at Berlin Pride.

A poll carried out by research agency More in Common has found that Reform UK is the most supported party among gay and bisexual men in the UK, with a quarter saying they would vote for Nigel Farage's party. By contrast, the Greens — led by Zack Polanski, who is himself gay — were the most popular choice among lesbian and bisexual women, with more than a third backing the party. Labour, currently in government, was no group's first choice. The findings have raised eyebrows given Reform's openly anti-LGBTQ+ stance, which includes pledges to repeal the Equality Act, ban what the party calls transgender ideology in schools and — following last year's local elections — banning Pride flags from flying over the ten councils it controls. Farage himself has previously said he opposed same-sex marriage, calling it wrong to have introduced it without a manifesto commitment. The poll surveyed nearly nine thousand adults between November and December last year.

Sam Smith has quietly confirmed they are engaged to fashion designer Christian Cowan, letting slip the news in a New York Times interview by casually referring to Cowan as their fiancé. The non-binary singer, 34, and Cowan, 32, are believed to have been together since late 2022 and made their public debut as a couple at the Met Gala in 2024. Smith also revealed their forthcoming album, Hazel Eyes — named after Cowan's eye colour — is due for release on the twelfth of August. Speaking about performing queer love songs, Smith said there is something radical about being queer in this time and in this world, and that they would not allow the poison they see around them to affect the way they love.

A previously unstudied short story by Alan Turing has shed new light on the gay mathematician, revealing a very different man to the tragic, isolated figure often portrayed in popular culture. The six-page handwritten piece, titled Pryce's Bouy, is held in the Turing archive at King's College Cambridge and has now been analysed in depth for the first time by Cambridge professor Sarah Dillon. She says the story — believed to have been written in 1952 or 1953, shortly after Turing's conviction for gross indecency — shows a man who was playful, funny, cheeky, literary and someone who really liked sex. Dillon says Turing was likely using fiction to process his experiences, drawing directly on the encounter that led to his arrest. She told the New York Times that although Turing was prosecuted for his homosexuality, he was never ashamed of it — he was a proud gay man.

One of Blackpool's best-known gay bars has reopened after a major refurbishment. Kaos, on Queen Street in the heart of the town's Gay Village, closed its doors in April for a twelve-week transformation that included new flooring, toilets, bars and drainage, finished off with glitterballs and neon rainbow lights. Under new ownership, the venue also brought in new security and DJs, with late-night sessions running until four in the morning on Fridays and Saturdays. The first public opening night was greeted with overwhelmingly positive responses, with one visitor saying they felt welcome, accepted and safe. The refurbishment was celebrated with a performance by RuPaul's Drag Race UK star Zahirah Zapanta, which organisers described as an incredible night.

Queer representation in gaming is on the rise, with a new feature in Attitude magazine charting how far the industry has come. While early games often used queer characters as stereotypes or villains, the tide began to turn with The Sims in 2000, which quietly allowed same-sex relationships from launch — an inclusion its own developers initially tried to remove. The real watershed, though, came with The Last of Us, whose portrayal of protagonist Ellie as gay felt genuinely revolutionary — not because it made a grand statement, but precisely because it didn't. Its sequel placed a same-sex relationship at the very heart of the story. The feature's author says that for queer players who grew up searching for themselves in pixels, seeing that shift has felt nothing short of profound.

A new play about Paul O'Grady's alter ego Lily Savage is due to hit London's West End next year. Written by Jonathan Harvey, and starring Danny Beard in the title role, the play - titled 'Savage' - will tell the story of how O'Grady created Lily in a funny and heartfelt way. Jonathan Harvey said O'Grady knew he was working on the play before his death in 2023 and was delighted at the prospect. The play will premiere in Leicester in February before heading to London.

The anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out received two hundred and three reports of homophobic incidents during the 2025/26 season — a forty-three percent rise from the previous year and equivalent to the total number of reports received across the previous four seasons combined. Incidents in youth football rose by ninety percent. The campaign group Football v Homophobia issued an urgent call to action, saying divisive political rhetoric in Britain is fuelling discrimination and that senior leaders in the sport must take more meaningful steps in support of education and allyship.

RuPaul has helped smash a Guinness World Record for the largest drag show ever staged, after seven thousand four hundred and twenty-three people packed out the Drag Me to Cowboys show at Calgary's Cowboys Music Festival in Alberta, Canada earlier this month. Drag Race legends Sasha Velour, Sasha Colby, Roxxxy Andrews and Coco Montrese appeared alongside RuPaul, who arrived to dance and DJ before grabbing the microphone to lip-sync to We Are the Champions as the record was confirmed. The festival, which has been running for thirty years, said it wanted to prove the community was more alive than ever.

Russell T Davies has spoken in detail for the first time about filming the devastating final scene of Tip Toe, in which the character Leo — played by Alan Cumming — is lynched by a mob. Davies told the Independent the sequence took three days to film and required elaborate precautions, including erecting huge screens along a major A road and stopping filming every afternoon when a nearby school broke up. He said that when the crew first hoisted a dummy in the air, absolute silence fell over the entire street as the enormity of it hit everyone. Alan Cumming, he added, was absolutely delighted when it was over. Channel 4’s compliance department had serious concerns about broadcasting the scene, though Davies said he was careful not to linger on it in a way that would be torturous.

London Trans+ Pride has broken its own record, with an estimated hundred and fifty thousand people taking to the streets of the capital on Saturday under the theme Our Future, Our Fight. The march ended at Trafalgar Square for the first time in the event's eight-year history — a fifty percent increase on last year's turnout, making it the largest trans rights protest ever held anywhere in the world. Speakers called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to listen and act, with author Juno Dawson urging that trans people urgently need access to timely healthcare, legal recognition, and the freedom to live openly without fear.

A major new Dutch medical review has strongly endorsed gender-affirming care for transgender young people, directly challenging the direction taken by the UK's Cass Review. The report, commissioned by the Netherlands' health authorities, concluded that withholding such care causes serious harm and described the need to provide it as morally urgent. It found that puberty blockers and hormone therapy, when properly supervised, significantly improve the mental health and wellbeing of trans youth. The findings have been welcomed by LGBTQ+ organisations in the UK who argue that access to care here has been severely curtailed in recent years.

The pioneering Queer Up North arts festival, which ran in Manchester for twenty years, is being celebrated again this year. It originally ran in the city’s venues, clubs and streets from 1990 to 2010, showcasing LGBTQ+ history and culture. Now, thanks to support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Manchester Histories and the Granada Foundation, Queer Up North will be brought to a new generation from August and will run until the end of October. The event - running across several venues - will feature live performances, panel discussions, exhibitions and archive material.

London Trans+ Pride has broken its own record, with an estimated hundred and fifty thousand people taking to the streets of the capital on Saturday under the theme Our Future, Our Fight. The march ended at Trafalgar Square for the first time in the event’s eight-year history — a fifty percent increase on last year’s turnout, making it the largest trans rights protest ever held anywhere in the world. Speakers called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to listen and act, with author Juno Dawson urging that trans people urgently need access to timely healthcare, legal recognition, and the freedom to live openly without fear.

One person’s died and at least 16 have been injured after a vehicle was driven into a crowd at Berlin Pride in Tiergarten park. The incident happened on Saturday and forced organisers to curtail the annual event known as the Christopher Street Parade, commemorating New York’s Stonewall riots. The suspect - who was known to the German authorities - was shot and killed by police on Sunday after an intensive manhunt. They say officers shot him after he rushed at them with a knife-like weapon. He was a 21-year-old German citizen of Lebanese heritage. The mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, called the incident an attack on Germany’s free and fair minded society.

Barnsley Community Alliance, the social media network that supports the town’s Pride and other events, says it’s taking robust action against online homophobic abuse. It says it’s already banned nearly 40 users for what it describes as ‘disgusting and homophobic comments’ and is now looking to see which ones should be referred to South Yorkshire Police.
Barnsley Pride took place on Saturday, July the 25th in the town’s Mandela Gardens and Barnsley Community Alliance is the latest organisation to pledge a fight back against increasing online homophobia.

A major new Dutch medical review has strongly endorsed gender-affirming care for transgender young people, directly challenging the direction taken by the UK’s Cass Review. The report, commissioned by the Netherlands’ health authorities, concluded that withholding such care causes serious harm and described the need to provide it as morally urgent. It found that puberty blockers and hormone therapy, when properly supervised, significantly improve the mental health and wellbeing of trans youth. The findings have been welcomed by LGBTQ+ organisations in the UK who argue that access to care here has been severely curtailed in recent years.

The organisers of Durham Pride have hit out at continuing homophobic abuse on its Facebook page. The event took place in May after trades unions and the public stepped in to plug the fundraising gap left by Reform-led Durham council withdrawing its annual grant and other support. But the organisation says vile abuse on social media is continuing. Defending its decision to block abusers, Durham Pride says its Facebook page isn’t a free-for-all for haters and it wants to be positive and uplifting, particularly as a lot of young LGBT+ people in Durham are finding their way.

Russell T Davies has spoken movingly about the death of his husband Andrew Smith, describing it as his greatest loss. The pair were together for twenty years, marrying in 2012. Smith died in 2018 after an eight-year battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer. Speaking on a podcast for the charity Marie Curie, Davies said caring for his husband in his final years — though hard and exhausting — included some of their happiest memories together. He has since gone public with a new relationship, celebrating his first anniversary with his boyfriend Oliver Cole earlier this month.

This year’s Bingley Pride in West Yorkshire - due to take place on Saturday, September the 12th - has been cancelled. The organisers say this is because of unforeseen difficulties, but they’ve promised to return in July next year after planning several months of fund-raising. Last year’s Pride was the first one held in the town.